


Something Missing

by Daydreaming_In_The_Void



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Because this is self indulgent, Lich Taako, Multi, No Beta, Taako Remembers, We Die Like Men, a bit boring in the beginning but i promise it'll get better, also hes a lich, canon typical violence and humour, comment if youre interested in betaing, i have a lot of plans, im gonna tag the characters as they pop up, so this is gonna be fun, soon as htbg is over, taako remembers early in this one, what do I tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24023668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daydreaming_In_The_Void/pseuds/Daydreaming_In_The_Void
Summary: Ever since Taako woke up alone in a field ten years ago, he’d known something-- someone-- was missing.He traveled all throughout Faerun, searching for that someone. He recognized that his memories were wrong; they told him he had been alone. But he knew he had her. He’d never been alone. Well, until now.He takes a job for some extra coin, his heart aching as he meets his new colleagues. When he finds the umbrastaff, it feels heavy in his hands. He wished he knew why.That glove (Phoenix Fire Gauntlet, his mind tells him through the static) felt horribly familiar as it destroyed the town.Then he got to the moon, and he drank the ichor. And he remembered more than he was supposed to-- He remembered Lup, his other half, the missing piece. Barry, whom he considered a brother. The rest of the IPRE and their long journey through reality.But even after ten years of searching (without knowing exactly what he was looking for) he didn’t know where Lup was. Now he just had to find Barry, avoid suspicion from Lucretia, and also collect the relics without acting too weird around Magnus and Merle.Shouldn’t be too difficult, right?
Relationships: Magnus Burnsides & Merle Highchurch & Taako
Comments: 26
Kudos: 86





	1. A Few Key Differences

Taako knew three things. 

One, was that he couldn’t trust anyone.

Two, was that things would always go wrong.

And three, was that he was alone. It was the way it always had been. He’d never had anyone to lean on, and he didn’t need anyone. It was simple. (He ignored the voice in the back of his head that insisted he hadn’t been alone. He knew his memories, after all, no matter how off they might seem.)

One day, he realized he was wrong about all three things. Well, less realized, and more remembered. It had been a normal day for him. He’d taken on a small job to get some supplies from one town to another. He would be working with two others, a human named Magnus and a dwarf named Merle. (They met for the first time in a tavern, but they fit with each other like puzzle pieces.) Their employer, Merle’s cousin, would ride ahead of them with his bodyguard, Barry. (He wasn’t sure why seeing him as a fighter didn’t feel right. He’d never met the man. Who was he to judge his class choice?)

The job went wrong, as Taako expected. They came across the ruins of the other cart and two missing people. (Why was he concerned for a stranger?) They got attacked by some goblins, raided a goblin hideout, made “friends” with a bugbear. Which, admittedly, didn’t go as bad as he thought it would. 

They saved Barry Bluejeans. Something about him rung a bell, Taako realized. He’s looking for the same thing, supplied his mind. He had no idea what the thing was, but he followed his instincts. So in Phandalin, he hastily scribbled a mongoose and an umbrella on a piece of paper, writing “still looking” underneath in his loopy handwriting, whatever that meant. (His mind filled with static if he thought about it.) He slipped it in Barry’s hand subtly right before he and the other two chucklefucks left, grinning at Barry’s confused look before walking out the door, tail swishing.

Wave Echo Cave went about as he expected. Fought a jelly cube, got wrecked by some mushrooms, had a brief pool (spring?) party.

The door of the room they were in slammed open as an orc walked in, wielding a much-too-large crossbow, in his opinion. She ignored Magnus’ indignant “I’m the one who kicks doors around here!” She looked around at them quizzically. Seems she hadn’t been expecting anyone.

“Hello!”

“Hail and well met!” 

She hummed, thrumming her fingers on her crossbow. “So, I’m trying to figure this out—” 

“Is it a math problem?” Magnus interrupted. She paused for a moment before continuing, shaking her head.

“No, it’s not— It’s just— It’s just, I can’t understand why other people would be here, I’m trying to figure out whether to just kill you guys right away. I don’t have a lot of time, um, I don’t— I don’t like collateral damage, it does not reflect upon me very well. I’m just trying to, uh, crack the, the code. Of how other people could be,” she gestured around the room with her crossbow, “here.”

There was a moment of awkward silence. The orc clicked her tongue. 

“I’m going to ask you guys a question. You, you seem like good people. And, uh—” Magnus interrupted again and Taako grinned at the exasperated orc.

“Is it a riddle?” 

She sighed. “It might be, depending on where you’re at.”

“I love riddles.” 

“Great. Depending on your answer to the next question, it’s, uh, it’s gonna decide, I guess, what happens next.”

“Oh, like a choose your own adventure!” 

“Uh, sure, if ninety percent of the pages read ‘you died.’”

Magnus nodded sagely. “Like, you end up at the yeti?”

“Yes, this could be a yeti page situation.” The orc looked like she was considering shooting him just to shut him up. Which, to be fair, was an emotion Taako was completely familiar with.

She took a deep breath and leveled the crossbow at them. “Are you here for the P̸̨͎̖̰͇͔̟͉̮̊͊̂͗͑̋͊͘h̵̯̼͍̲͎̮̝̙̾̂͗̓͛͊̂̄̍̕o̷̗̰͓̩̍ě̸̜̈̎̌̆̾͑̽̚ͅn̶̛͎̘̅̉̾̔̈͂͝ĩ̴͖̮́̍͑̋͐͑̎͐ẋ̶̘͍͍͔̍͗̋̌͗̎̾͂͝ ̴̙͖̠̳̠̫̾͆̀͗̈́̌͜Ḟ̷͎̙̦̝̆͒̓͌͑̆̋͗͌i̴̹̊r̶̨̛̮͎̯͖̭̖̈̅̚͜ȩ̷͕̘̀͗̆̈́ ̷̧̧̹̝̳̝̺̮̞̓̈͌̌͛͗̊G̴̨̻̲̼͎͕̜̲̿̑̉̾ȁ̶̖͑̈́u̸̺̥͛͌͆̇̄͝ñ̴̜̳̩̀̿̋́͂̕̕t̵̡̩̪̤̹̼̫̹̓͒̓̓͘͠l̸̢͉̠̥̂̆̍͌͒̾̋̈́̾͐ͅe̴̻͕̻͊͐̃͝t̵̡̺͕̹̮̯͕̄̎̅͘͘ͅ?” 

Taako fought to keep his face blank. He heard static, he was sure, but his mind supplied the words: Phoenix Fire Gauntlet. He swallowed nervously. How the hell did he understand what she was saying? Magnus and Merle seemed flabbergasted, but he understood through the static. Magnus looked at her, awkwardly. 

“Did you have like, a hair stuck in your throat or something?” Merle stepped forward, spreading his arms. 

“I got this,” he said to them, before turning back to the woman. “No, we are not kkxssxksk hunters!” She narrowed her eyes, lowering her crossbow slightly. 

“Alright, I just heard a weird crackly thing, so that tells me everything I need to know. Okay, you’re not here for P̸̨͎̖̰͇͔̟͉̮̊͊̂͗͑̋͊͘h̵̯̼͍̲͎̮̝̙̾̂͗̓͛͊̂̄̍̕o̷̗̰͓̩̍ě̸̜̈̎̌̆̾͑̽̚ͅn̶̛͎̘̅̉̾̔̈͂͝ĩ̴͖̮́̍͑̋͐͑̎͐ẋ̶̘͍͍͔̍͗̋̌͗̎̾͂͝ ̴̙͖̠̳̠̫̾͆̀͗̈́̌͜Ḟ̷͎̙̦̝̆͒̓͌͑̆̋͗͌i̴̹̊r̶̨̛̮͎̯͖̭̖̈̅̚͜ȩ̷͕̘̀͗̆̈́ ̷̧̧̹̝̳̝̺̮̞̓̈͌̌͛͗̊G̴̨̻̲̼͎͕̜̲̿̑̉̾ȁ̶̖͑̈́u̸̺̥͛͌͆̇̄͝ñ̴̜̳̩̀̿̋́͂̕̕t̵̡̩̪̤̹̼̫̹̓͒̓̓͘͠l̸̢͉̠̥̂̆̍͌͒̾̋̈́̾͐ͅe̴̻͕̻͊͐̃͝t̵̡̺͕̹̮̯͕̄̎̅͘͘ͅ, and that’s great news for me, so I am not going to kill you with my giant crossbow.” Well, at least she admitted it was giant. “But, I can’t have you getting in my way either, so…” She shrugged and pulled a small remote device out of her pocket, clicking the bright red button. He barely registered her leaving through the door as the room shook, rumbling loudly. 

The large compacter thing in the center of the room started to creak, it’s wheels starting to turn. 

So, they fought a large robot, with Magnus finally defeating it with the clever use of chains into its grinder. They climbed up the ledge to the door. Magnus shook his head, disappointed at the sorry state the orc woman left it in. They ended up fighting a drow wizard to save both the orc woman and their employer when she got captured not minutes later. Magic Brian had a surprisingly similar dialect to his own, he noticed. No other elves he’d met shared his dialect. He felt a spark of heartache at the thought, accompanied by a heavy feeling of wrongness deep in his chest. 

He shook off the disappointment in having killed him, and they helped Gundren out as Killian (that was her name, apparently) went to retrieve something from the body. He told them of the vault supposedly filled with riches. His throat felt dry, dread settling deep in his stomach. No one hid something four days distance underground unless it was dangerous. 

They proceeded the next room, and Taako stopped dead in his tracks. To the side of the vault door, leaned against the wall in an almost fetal position, was a figure in a red robe. He ran forward, heart pounding. (He didn’t know why his mind was so full of static.) His thoughts dissolved into static as he moved, moving more on instinct than anything else. 

Both his thoughts and body stuttered to a halt when he saw it was a skeleton. He swallowed, stepping forward anxiously. 

It was clothed in a bright crimson robe with gold accents, a black badge on the left breast pocket and an embroidered name on the other. He could feel his heart pounding furiously in his chest, thoughts swirling so wildly they were unintelligible. Through that storm, a single thought made its way out of the static.

Lup. 

He found her.

After so long, he found her.

He didn’t know who Lup was. But he found her. Well, her body. (He felt like crying when he he didn’t know her. Didn’t remember her, he realized.) 

Merle walked over to him, about to ask what he’d found, when he reached for the robe. It looked like a uniform, almost. 

As soon as he gripped the red fabric, the skeleton shuddered and turned to dust, a single item clattering to the ground, and he was left holding the robe of a corpse with an umbrella laying at his feet. There was a bloody gash in the back, he noticed. The thought filled him with dismay. There wasn’t enough blood to have bled out, which meant the weapon was poisoned. 

Being poisoned was not a fun way to die, and alone at that. (He didn’t think about the fact he knew what it was like to die. He didn’t want to think about it.)

He shrugged the robe (uniform) on. It fit perfectly. (Of course it did, ī̵͕̜̎̽͘ṭ̸͙͎̄͝ ̶̨͙̮̃̉͗̽͋ẅ̴̧̯͖́͆å̶̟̀͗̉̑ͅs̷̺̰͌̃͋ ̴̤̥̞͖̤̓̕h̸̡̺͝ĭ̴̺̠̭̤̂̾͜͠s̵̛͈̦̲̠͙̑̋,̴̯̺̓͑̚ ̷̠̻̿́̄͘s̶͔͛̍h̸͔̰̭͇͊̃̌̈̂e̷̦͚͌̇ ̶̢̢̛̰͈͔̓̅g̵͍̟̙̭̻̔r̶̥̤͚̪̐̋̌͜ạ̵̿͒b̴̙͇̮͎̥̂̂b̴̛̳̮͇̀ê̸̫̼̫͘͠d̸͎̫̫͖̾̌ͅ ̵̧͚̻̱̉́̕t̴͔̞̹̱͌͒͒ḣ̶̻̀ȩ̶̡̲͊̃ ̵̼̝̝͔͈̀̈̉̈́ẅ̸̯̜͎́̉̓̄͜r̶̲̫͕̿̉̒͜o̵̙̅̃̄͆̆ṋ̶̛͋g̷̠̮̙̋̎̀̈́͑ ̵̤͔̋͋r̸͈̦͇̻̎̓̎̈o̴̧̿̄̎̿b̶̭͍̅́̾̔̾é̵͙ ̶̢̪̠̿̚͝͠ṱ̶͈͌͗̒̄͝ͅh̸͍̹͈̦͐̾͌͂͝ǎ̶̡̼̩̝̎͗̚t̵̯͊̓̃̀́ ̵̨̱̻͇͒͊ņ̸͇͓̃̌̾͝i̷̗̬̭̰͠g̸͉̙͝h̴͚͒̿͆t̶̡͈̻̊̐.̴̨̣͎̜̼̏͋)

He picked the umbrella up, and it shuddered in his hold, sending streaks of lightning through the air. He grinned and turned to Merle. 

“I think the staff likes me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!   
> Thanks for taking the time to read!   
> Comments and Kudos always appreciated!
> 
> Translation for static:  
> Phoenix Fire Gauntlet  
> It was his, she grabbed the wrong robe that night


	2. Only Living Souls Left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:  
> He picked the umbrella up, and it shuddered in his hold, sending streaks of lightning through the air. He grinned and turned to Merle. 
> 
> “I think the staff likes me.”

Taako turned back to his new friends. (They didn’t feel new.) He clicked the staff on the ground and leaned on it as Merle raised an eyebrow at him.

“That could’ve gone really wrong.”

“Hey, I live like I’m dyin’.” Taako grinned and turned instead to their employer, who was standing with an open jaw and wide eyes. He grinned wider and flicked his ears. 

“What the fuck was that?” He gestured with his hands wildly. “With the lightning and magical umbrella and shit?” 

Magnus smirked at Taako and then at Gundren. “We’re just cool like that.”

Gundren shook himself and walked to the heavy iron door at the end of the room. He explained to the about his supposed “birthright” (which Taako thought was bullshit, but maybe that was just his lack of a family talking) and how brave his father was, yada yada yada. Taako stopped listening pretty quickly. 

Gundren put his hand to the door. It began rumbling, old gears and pulleys shifting as it ground open.

It was dark in the vault, difficult to see even with his night vision. He could sense that the room was mostly empty, except for a lone something in the center. (It was an ability all elves had, where he came from. He’d never realized the elves around him now couldn’t echolocate like he could.) They all stepped forward, and his heels clicked on… glass?

Panic shot through him, a horrible sense of familiarity settling deep in his gut. In the room was nothing but a circle of black glass and a charred dwarven statue of charcoal in the middle, wearing a faintly glowing golden gauntlet. The sight of it left a bitter taste in his mouth. 

He almost didn’t realize Gundren was shouting, waving his hands about and pacing. The contents of the vault weren’t what he was expecting, apparently. 

Magnus rushed forward suddenly, arm out reaching out, and high-five the fucking gauntlet. A small flame enveloped his hand as it made contact and he recoiled.

“Worth it,” he winced. Merle sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

Taako had a sudden wave of deja vu, a fuzzy memory coming to the forefront of his mind. A figure cloaked in static— Lup, his instincts told him— was walking past him as he scribbled equations on some papers, holding a book in one hand and mug of coffee in the other, a pen held between her teeth. She glanced up curiously as another figure entered the room and barreled towards her, yelling “Incoming!” She thrust the book and coffee out of her hands and spit out her pen, giving him the hardest double high-five Taako had ever seen. She clutched her hands, laughing out a “Worth it!” as they stung from the contact and spilled coffee pooled around her feet. He could hear himself start to laugh as someone else walked in and immediately turned and left again, flipping them off and sipping their own coffee.

His throat was dry. He realized his hold on the umbrella had tightened, knuckles turning white. He would have to go back to Killian, he thought. Figure out what the static was, if there was a way to stop it. 

He wanted to remember who Lup was.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by said orc, who stomped in, furious. 

“I told you not to go anywhere!”

“We got bored, you were gone for hours!”

“It was a minute and a half. I was gone for literally ninety seconds.” Her gaze shifted to the figure in the center of the room, her eyes widening. “None of you touched that thing, did you?” she said, pulling her crossbow out. 

“No,” Magnus lied.

“You’d have to be a complete idiot to touch that thing.” Taako leaned on Magnus, who elbowed him. Merle snickered. Gundren looked at them disapprovingly. 

“Are you guys here with this filthy orc?” There was a pause, his words taking a moment to register. 

“Hey, cheese it with the racism, Gundro!” Taako snapped. Gundren glared at him.

Killian blinked. “Did you just call me filthy, dude?” The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Magnus stepped forward. “Let’s just, take two steps back here, real quick, and, uh, calm down.”

“No! This gauntlet, this vault, it’s my birthright!” Gundren growled, looking back at the gauntlet. Taako’s stomach sunk, his mind screaming at him, it’s a thrall, don’t pick it up!

Killian groaned. “Don’t test me. Don’t test me. I had a real long day. Got all webbed up in the other room, hated that.” Gundren didn’t look away from the gauntlet. 

“Boys, you’ve served me well, but I have last job for you. I need you to take her out.” Taako’s ears shot up. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that. Killian frowned.

That doesn’t— That doesn’t seem like a good idea.” Magnus nodded.

“Look, Gundren, do you know why this room’s empty and there’s a gauntlet on, like, a dude’s hand?” 

“I don’t know why it’s the only thing in this room. But I know that it’s mine.”

“Killian, do you know what this is?”

“I have a pretty good goddamn idea, yeah,” she said.

Magnus clapped his hands together. “Okay, so Gundren, how about we chill the fuck out and find out what’s going on?”

Gundren didn’t look away still. “Or, better idea—” he said, and lunged at the gauntlet. Taako lurched forward, to tackle him or do something to stop him, but Magnus grabbed him. Gundren slipped the gauntlet on and flames roared to life around him, getting steadily brighter as he screamed.

“Well, he’s dead,” Merle remarked. 

Taako shook his head, eyes still focused on the heaving figure barely visible through the flames. “Uh, no, he’s still pretty alive,” he said. The flames died down just slightly as the dwarf stopped screaming and they could see him clearly now, floating above the ground, eyes glowing and hair swirling as if it were also made of fire. Killian nocked her crossbow.

“Well, shit.” She fired. Gundren waved his hand distractedly at the bolt and it burned up before it even made it through the flames, dissolving to ash. He saw her swallow nervously. “Everyone, back away from the fiery dwarf, slowly.” Gundren sneered at her. 

“I’m done with this,” he said, and flew out the door. There was a moment of silence as they all glanced at each other. 

“Well, that went about as shitty as it could’ve gone. Great— Great job, you three,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. They grinned at her in unison.

She sighed. “We need to find him, and we need to stop him.”

Merle shrugged. “Not our job.” Taako rapped his knuckles on the dwarf’s head. 

“He still has our money, you dingus,” he said, trying to ignore his unease at not going after the gauntlet as fast as they could. Why was he so worried about it? Granted, it had a powerful thrall and summoned fire, but it wasn’t like that would destroy an entire town. (The irony would’ve been funny if it weren’t so sad.)

“Oh shit, right!” Merle immediately started walking towards the exit. Magnus and Taako followed him. 

Killian looked confused. “So… Y’all down?”

“Why not.”

“I’ll admit, this is way above your pay grade.”

“Everything is, we’re idiots,” Taako responded.

The walk back through the cave was quiet and uneventful. The flaming dwarf was easy to follow, on account of the fact that he left everything in his path burned up, and it didn’t take long for the group to realize he was heading to Phandalin. The ride there was short, though they did stop to help when they came across burned wagons, with charred orcish bodies laying about. Scavengers were picking over the wreckage and had imprisoned a young boy, probably to sell. The freed the (very ungrateful) boy and got some loot, the latter of which Taako thought was wasting precious time. A new thought for him. He would’ve never passed up the opportunity to loot something before this.

Phandalin wasn’t as burned up as he had been expecting. Gundren only went through the center of the roads, and only a few buildings were a little on fire. No one was around, seemingly all getting the (correct) idea that going outside wasn’t worth it when there was a dwarven fireball flying around. 

The only genuinely damaged building was the tavern they’d talked with Barry at— It’s windows were shattered and the door was ripped off its hinges, flames crawling up the walls. 

There was shouting inside, then a surge of air, the fires burning brighter, and Barry Bluejeans stumbled out of the door, just barely dodging a fireball. His face brightened upon seeing them. 

“You’re alive!” Something shattered inside the building and he winced. “You’ve gotta help me, I’ve never seen him like this!” He paused. “Well, obviously, I’ve never seen him all flaming and magical and shit, but you know what I mean. We’ve gotta calm him down!” He glanced around, and his eyes landed on Taako, dressed in his bright red robe and clutching his umbrella. He did a double take, blinking wildly. Lup? he mouthed. He didn’t have time to respond before Killian spoke, but he shook his head subtly at Barry. 

Looks like he was right. Looking for the same thing indeed. 

“He’s right, we’ll never be able to fight him like this. Our only option is to calm him down,” she said. Magnus nodded sagely.

“You’re gonna rush in, aren’t you?” Merle asked.

“Yeah, I’m rushing in.” Magnus took only a few steps forward before the flames flared, sending him stumbling back.

A burning dwarven figure emerged from the flames, fiery hair swirling and eyes twin suns. “Fight me? Why would you want to stop me?” He flexed his fingers, admiring the flames leaping from them. “I’ve finally got enough power to kill all those damn orcs.” 

His voice was different; more guttural, more desperate. He wasn’t in control anymore. He was overtaken almost completely by the thrall of the gauntlet, and if that happened— He didn’t know what would happen then. He just knew it wasn’t good. (It was too quiet on the S̶̘̒t̷̠͠a̴͙̍͝͝r̶̝̒b̶̠͎̪̃̓̊l̶̗̅̒ạ̶͐s̷̼̓͝t̷̮̳̠͌ĕ̵̺̝̕r̷̥̙͘ ̶̣̍w̴̲͙̔̐ḣ̴͇͐̀e̷̝͋ņ̵͓̽ ̶̛̥̽ť̷̞̟̳̕͝h̵̢̗̆͠e̸͔͓͎̐ ̸̫̹̯̀̀̉f̶̨̝̂͠i̴̺̲͊̕ṙ̴̗̰͘͝s̷̭̾͒͘ͅt̴͈͝ ̸̩͐͌t̸̮̙̋̈͜͝ợ̵͎͂̅ͅw̴̫̗͌̎n̸͍̲̓ ̵̠̲̃̅g̵̛̜̯͘ŏ̵͕̈͑ṱ̸͔͙͝ ̴̼̒d̵̦̦͗e̵̤͇̦ṣ̵͐̕t̵̡̹̝̉̂̔r̵̢̙̽ŏ̶̬̱̐͝y̶̬͆͋̇ĕ̸̫͛d̷͕̍̾,̸̪͚̐ ̵͇͗w̵̘͊ḧ̶̹̥̬́̈́̎ě̶̦̲͆͐ņ̸̠̌͊ ̵̩̺͕͑t̴̯̫̿͘h̴̦̲̒e̵̦̐y̴̖͆͝’̶̩͕̈́̔͝d̶͕͌̇͝ ̶̖͇͂͘r̵̗͓̳̐͊e̴̮͐á̶͓̙͓͝ḽ̶̭̿̿i̴̡̦̽z̸̤̹͋̀͝ĕ̸̩̤͖̑d̷̡̻ ̸̡̗̈́̈ẉ̴̾ḧ̴̩́͛̇a̷͖̖͗t̷̰͎̩̃ ̸̙͒̆t̸̼͗͑h̷̝̹͐̑̾e̴̺̥͕͆͌̕y̴̞̲̘̍̈́’̷̤̩̟́͝͠ḍ̸̨̡͒̊ ̷͉͖̭͊ḑ̵͈͖̋́o̵̝̫͋̀n̵̥͒̍͐e̶̳̦̭̎͝.̷̤̑̌̕) 

Merle took a tentative step forward, arms out in a placating manner. “Hey, Gundren,” he said softly. “You need to listen to me. That glove is consuming you from the inside out. You’re going to die if you don’t take it off, Gundren.”

“I can control it!”

“No, you can’t. Think of your father in the cave, Gundren. You can’t control this. Look at yourself, this isn’t you.”

Gundren laughed ruefully. “You don’t know what I’m like.”

“Yeah, I do. We’re cousins, remember?” Gundren was silent. “Remember Candlenights at ol’ Aunt Blarg’s house? We’d sit around the fire, drink mulled wine. Remember?” 

The fire around Gundren flickered. “I miss her. So much.” 

“Oh, Aunt Blarg. She was a good woman.”

“She was.” The fires flared. “Until she was killed by those goddamn orcs!” 

“Well, that was never proven. And— And you know what? She loved you, and she— y’know, she gave to the Orc Benevolent fund every year.”

“That was what made her death so ironic! So painfully ironic!”

Merle nodded, taking another step forward. “It was painfully ironic, but is this what she would’ve wanted? To not only kill all these indiscriminate orcs but burn your own ass up at the same time? Come on, why don’t you just take the gauntlet off, and we can all talk about it?”

“I’m not sure I can.”

“Course you can? You’re the strongest dwarf I know.”

“Bronze— Bronze Strongarm is the strongest and you know that, stop bullshitting me.”

“He might be the strongest at arm wrestling, but you’re strong at heart.” Gundren didn’t respond for a moment, the flames around him flickering again.

“I’m scared.”

Merle took another step closer. “You’ve always been my hero. Don’t be scared, we’re all here together.”

Gundren looked hesitant. 

“Aren’t you tired of hurting? Aren’t you tired of fire and burning?” Gundren nodded slightly. “Just, just why don’t you take a deep breath—” Gundren did so, the flames dying down more. “—and take off the gauntlet. And everything’s going to be okay.” The fire in Gundren’s eyes was gone now, his normal eyes returning. His hair was singed and no longer swirling with the flames. His skin was ashen and even from a distance, Taako could see that Gundren was sweating.

“I— I killed a bunch of orcs earlier. You didn’t see that, did you?”

Merle shook his head. “We’ll blame it on the scavengers. You know, for the public.” Gundren looked confused but didn’t question it. “And you can rest, and then— then we could go spelunking and tell stories about Aunt Blarg.”

“I would like th—” He was cut off by a sudden thunk as something rammed into him from behind. Taako could see an arrow sticking out of his back, and in the distance, perched on a building, was the boy they’d saved earlier. He and Taako made eye contact and the kid turned and ran. The fires roared back to life, and what looked like molten lava dripped from Gundren’s eyes. The fires burned brighter, and hotter, and now the other buildings were catching fire. The tavern was gone now, literally gone, and Taako could see black glass marring the ground where it used to be. (Yet another one they couldn’t stop.)

“We need to go,” He breathed, grabbing Magnus’ wrist. 

“Time to go!” Killian yelled, running towards the center of town. “To the well, get to well, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” 

“I’m not leaving, there’s people here!” Magnus protested, trying to pull his wrist away. Taako didn’t let him. 

“If we don’t leave, we’ll all be a big pile of dead!” He could tell Magnus wanted to argue, but self preservation won out. (It was instinct now, to make sure at least one of them survived. Even if it meant others had to die.)

“What about Barry at least?” The fire was all around them now, each and every building burning, ash raining from the sky. Barry was nowhere to be seen.

“He’s dead!” Merle said. Not again, Taako thought, pulling Magnus towards the well. He didn’t know why knowing Barry was dead hurt. He hadn’t even noticed. And what was his thought about? What did his subconscious mean by “again?” He didn’t have any time to figure that out right now, he realized. Killian tapped herself with her feather duster and jumped down the well. Merle and Taako followed, the latter dragging a reluctant Magnus, shouting for the townspeople to get out. They tumbled, a little painfully, down the well just as fire thundered over them, sounding like hundreds of train horns being blasted at once. Even underground, in the well, they could feel the horrible heat. The edges of the stone well were glassy. 

Sparks and ash rained down on them, and they were the only living souls left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost to the moon!  
> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to read!  
> Hope you have a pleasant day!
> 
> Translation for static:  
> It was too quiet on the Starblaster when the first town got destroyed, when they'd realized what they'd done.


	3. Inoculation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Sparks and ash rained down on them, and they were the only living souls left.

They were all silent for a moment, not wanting to think about what the utter silence above them meant. They looked around at each other’s ash-stained faces, the down at Killian. They were sprawled on top of her in an uncomfortable manner, limbs all tangled. Her eyes were closed. 

“Well this is going good,” Taako said, trying to detangle himself from Magnus. He got a feeling of deja vu. 

“We really suck at this, so far,” said Merle. They all giggles, ignoring the dead silence above them. 

“You know, in retrospect, I regret helping that Kurtze kid.” Magnus accidentally kicked Taako in the side. He laughed. He didn’t know what else to do. 

“I wish we’d killed Kurtze, I was just thinking!” Taako sat up, his elbow digging into Merle face. The dwarf shoved him away, also sitting up. 

“I wish we’d killed Kurtze too!”

“I wish we’d killed Kurtze,” he echoed. Magnus sat up too.

“But you know what? A lotta woulda-coulda-shoulda, don’t I mean?” he said, trying to stifle his laughter. 

“That’s true. Wish in one hand, spit in the other.”

“Yeah. Hindsight, 20/20 and all that.” There was another moment of silence. 

Taako looked up. “So, can anybody levitate or anything?” They all laughed again. 

“I think we just live at the bottom of this well now.” Magnus pushed Merle off of him, proceeding to get off of Taako in return, standing up. He examined the wall, running his fingers over it. “I think I can climb this, and then throw a rope down for you guys.” He glanced down at Killian again. “First though…” He grabbed her crossbow and slung it over his back. Taako leaned over to take her magical feather duster, shaking it experimentally. Enchanted dust-like sparkles fluttered off.

“Tie the rope around her when I throw it down.” Magnus started to climb. The process was slow going, and Taako got bored quickly. He looked over Killian again. There was a glint of silver on her left arm, so he pushed up her sleeve. Underneath, there was a silver bracer with an insignia that looked like two angular ‘B’s. There was no clasp. He poked her face, hoping she’d wake up. She didn’t stir, so he sat back down and waited.

He heard Magnus gasp quietly. He was still half in the well, leaning out into the town. He glanced down at them nervously before he clambered out, throwing down his rope. It didn’t take long for Taako and Merle to climb the rope. Taako hesitated before peeking over the glassy edge of the well.

It was glass. All around them, stretching for more than a mile, was nothing but a circle of black glass, reflecting the setting sun. And in the center was a charred dwarven figure, left arm raised, wearing a shimmering golden gauntlet. 

He felt a newfound surge of bitterness at Killian. She hadn’t even warned them what might happen— just that it was bad. If they’d known more, maybe they could’ve done something to stop it. (They couldn’t have. What would they have done?)

He wanted to learn their names. All of the people that had died here, moments ago, because they had failed— they deserved to be remembered, at least. (He ignored the hundreds of other names he remembered. He didn’t know why he knew them, but he knew it was his fault.)

He could feel the thrall of the gauntlet, from where he was standing. It was a sudden craving, intense and powerful, urging him to pick it up. He wanted to. _By god_ , he wanted to. It promised him answers; it promised to fix his memories, hurt those that broke them in the first place. And sure, he was pissed at them, but even though he couldn’t remember them, he didn’t want to lose them, and he definitely didn’t want to lose them at his own hands. 

He raised his hand, slowly, and flipped it off. It’s indignance radiated off it in waves, the thrall slowly fading. Magnus marched over to him and flipped it off also, with Merle following suit. In unison, once the thrall had completely worn off, they spun back to Killian. She was still limp on the ground.

“She really hit her head, huh.” Taako leaned over her. There was no blood, at least. He waved Merle over. “Hey old man, go do your cleric shit.”

“My ‘cleric shit’ has saved your life, thank you very much.”

Taako snorted. “When?” (M̵̟̞͓̅̇͆ä̸̟͓̞̙̇n̸̩͆̀̕͝͝y̶̙̤̹̐͝ͅ ̴̢̻̲͂͗̓̍̔t̸̤̆̓͂͛̑î̸̘̤̺̤̣͌̍m̵͔̱̘͇̭̒͑̂̈́ḙ̴͈͈̩͛͝s̷͉̱̰͎̊ ̷͎̮̑̎͋͆̂o̸̭̪͙̎͠͝v̸̥̝͖͈́̀̽͑̈́e̷̘̖͓̩̊͜r̴̆͜ͅ,̷̪͎̫̈̇͗͌ ̴̘͉̖̄͐͠i̴͔̖͍̙͑n̸͉͓͈̽͂̒́͠ ̷͇̞̱̫͋s̸̘̰̱͚͐̐̒̓̃o̶̧̦͈̯̲̅ ̴̟̏m̴̨͓͚̟͈̎͊͝a̶͇͂̔̒͋͝n̶̞̦̹̮̈́̌̾̀͂ỳ̷̡̝͎̑ ̴̬͎̰̓c̸̨̗̠̓̅̔̄y̷̡̅̃c̶͉͊̉̍̈́̕l̴̘̬̗̾̊̎̿ȅ̴͓̰̲̣̃ş̶̨̧̘̫̈.) Merle rolled his eyes and leaned over her, waving his hands. Her eyes flickered open, and she sat up slowly, blinking up at them confusedly. 

“Did we save Phandalin?” she muttered, looking around. “Oh. I guess not.” Magnus crossed his arms, frowning. 

“I feel like we could’ve done a little more for Phandalin if you had told us what was going on.” He tapped his foot, plinking on the glass. In any other context, it would’ve been a nice sound.

“I— How many times do I have to tell you I _literally cannot_?” She snapped.

“I feel like you could’ve done a little more, like context clues, or charades.” Taako snapped his fingers, sending a small bout of flame bursting from his fingertips. “Warn us that he was gonna turn into a giant fireball.” He narrowed his eyes at her. She rolled her eyes, sighing heavily.

“Alright, let me— Just tell me when you get crackles, cool?” All three nodded. She thought for a moment. “I am an employee… of a… group of, uh, ‘concerned people’— how is it so far?”

“So far so good.”

“Who are… working… to s̷͔̟͉̿̂̆͗́̐̚̕͠͝͝͝a̸̧͎̭̯̣̝̤̞̰̜̺͓͐v̶̙̦͔͖͓̯͇͍͙̟͎̄̔̓͐͑̐̅ͅe̶̢̺̰̜̻͔͒̽ͅ ̸̢̛̛͔̭̱̻͙̾̃͛̇́̋͜͜͠ţ̸̮̤͍͔̥̰̔͊̈́̓͌̒͒̓͒̒́̕̚͠ȟ̸̢̧̨̢̭̦͙̦͍̞̻̫̯̬̩͋͋̔̂͒̄͋̚͘͝͝ȩ̷̨̫̮̗̿̋͗̈́͒͑ ̸̨̢̼̩̲͎̯͓͙̳̏ẅ̶̡̧͈̣͇̲̥̲̲͎̱̋͐̎̄͌͘ͅo̵̧̧̡̻̯̘̟̻̺͎̦̰̽̌r̶̨̛̗͙̙̗͚̖͛͌̆̆͒̋̈́̌͘͝l̷̙̰̠̲͈̣̝͖̺̾̎̇̍̈́̈́̔͛̌͊̍̇̐̕d̶̳̉̓͝.”

“Yep, there we go,” Magnus said. “We got crackles.” Taako frowned. Save the world? From what? And why did it sound right? (He was trying to do the same thing.”

Killian groaned. “Oh my god. Okay. Who are working to make… the whole… land… safer. How was that?”

Magnus gave a thumbs up. “All clear, but hard to buy cause the first time we met you, you sicced a giant grinder thing on us.”

“I thought you were— I thought you were trying to stop my group of people from doing a good thing.”

“Well, you’re a little bit ‘grind first and ask questions later’,” Magnus chided. Taako pushed him aside. 

“What’s the bracer for?” He asked. She took a deep breath, smiling thinly. 

“Oh well see, whenever you touch the rune on my bracer it c̷̭̉͛ȁ̶̬͚̳̼͛͌̅͒̄̏͜ļ̵̗̝͍̩͇̓̈́̓̄͒͛l̵͉̀̓̽̎͒̓s̴̡͈͈̭͚̯͚ ̵̙̘̫̰͎͌͒̽̎͝ͅf̶̯̲̙̪̙͖̈́̑̽̿̔ͅơ̵̖̤̰͔̱̓r̴̭̔̀͘ ̴̧̧͚̻͈͈̃̋̽ţ̶̻̻̭͎̰̎́̈́̄̀͝r̴̡̫̺̺̙͚̾͂̒ą̸̧͚̦̲̌͑̈̅̈͋̂n̶͔̞̟̲̺͊s̷̝̉͊̃̔͠p̵̧̛̳͍̃͘͝͠o̴̧̥̫̜̣̦̪͑̉r̸͈̿̔̒̀̀͑̔t̵͓̱̺͖̱͙͊̆̓́͛̔͝ͅ from the B̷͔̘̠͗o̵̢̦̲̘̻̝̪͗̏͠B̵̛̠̻͓̦͈̜̀̍́͗.” Taako almost laughed and wrote it off as a cough, putting a hand over his mouth. Maybe it wasn’t that convincing but hey, he tried. A little. At least Killian didn’t seem suspicious. She looked around frantically all of a sudden, jumping to her feet. 

“How have none of you grabbed the gauntlet and put it on?”

“Oh, we’re super cool,” Magnus said.

Taako finger-gunned. “We’re just really chill, and honestly— honestly I wanted to? Like real bad?”

Killian looked gobsmacked. “You mean its— its thrall didn’t— didn’t take you over?”

“No, I’m dumb,” he lied, “but I’m super willful. Wasn’t even a thing. For me. I was fine.”

A look of awe crossed Killian’s face as her eyes grew wide. “I- where did you guys come from?”

“Your mama.” Magnus didn’t hesitate. They all laughed, if a bit awkwardly. 

She took a deep breath. “Okay. I’m gonna let you guys in. I swear to— I swear to the gods.” Merle raised a brow.

“Don’t make me cast my truth spell again.”

She breathed out a laugh. “No truth spell required. Nothing but open honesty because I think— I think we could use people like you. If you’ve already escaped the thrall of that thing I can’t say the name of—”

Magnus interrupted. “Let’s just say ‘Glovey’!” Killian ignored him.

“If you’ve already escaped its thrall, you can collect it.” Taako was already sprinting to the glove. _Fucking sweet._ He grabbed the glove, and true to her word, it didn’t hurt him. Not even a little spout of flame was summoned. He could feel a resigned acceptance, almost, radiating off of it. He grinned and waved it in the air.

“Got it!” He walked back over to the others. Killian was looking at Magnus, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Could I have my crossbow back?” she asked. “It has my name on it.” Magnus squinted at it, then shrugged and tossed it over. Killian caught it with ease, slinging it over her back. Merle glared at him.

“What? I kept the bolts.”

“Alright, that’s fair.”

The walked in silence to the outer edge of the glass circle, their boots clicking loudly, slipping every once in a while. Once they were standing on scorched earth again, Killian tapped at her bracer. The rune flashed yellow intermittently. 

“Just— just waiting for approval, here,” she explained. It flashed blue twice before settling. “And now, we just wait. Shouldn’t take too long.” She glanced at them. “What are your names again?”

“Magnus Burnsides!”

“Merle Highchurch.”

“Taako.” Killian stared at him for a moment, no doubt waiting for a last name. The only answer he gave was a raised brow. She shook her head. 

“Where did you guys come from? You have— You’ve done some pretty impossible feats.”

Magnus’ face lit up. “I’m from Raven’s Roost!” Merle groaned. “I’ve got some time while we wait, so let me tell you—”

“We’ve got about thirty seconds, so…” Magnus repeated his statement, talking faster. He was interrupted by the wind picking up and the clouds burst apart. Taako’s first thought was that it was Barry Bluejeans, back from the dead to tell them how bad they fucked up, but instead a glass sphere slammed to the ground a few feet in front of them, sending up a plume of dust.

He stepped forward to examine it, brushing his fingers along a support beam. It was familiar somehow, the shimmering, silver-white metal. He peered inside. Nothing special, just four leather seats and a lever.

“Really lucky that there’s not just, like, three chairs.” Magnus poked his head in next to Taako. “It’s very fitting.” He looked over his shoulder. “There’s four of use, right?”

Killian rolled her eyes and pushed past them, settling into the seat by the lever. “It’s best if you don’t think about it.”

“Okay, done.” Magnus plopped down in the seat next to her. “I know how this works,” he whispered conspiratorially. “We steer it with our brains!” Taako got a sudden bout of nervousness, grip tightening on the beam.

“Well, then we’re gonna crash. We’re gonna crash right into that sun,” he said. Merle nudged him, no doubt noticing his whitening knuckles.

“It’ll be alright, come on.” Taako didn’t know why he was suddenly so nervous. “Let’s get in the big glass ball.”

“Okay,” he breathed.

“It’ll be fun!” Merle grabbed his hand, gently, and led him inside. 

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” he muttered. He perked up, ears swiveling. There was something magical in nature attached to the roof of the pod, some sort of compartment. He recognized it as a compression enchantment.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the shimmering white metal as he sat down, though. It gave him a sense of familiarity similar to his staff, to his robe, to Magnus and Merle. An image flashed before his eyes, the edges covered in static; darkness, peppered with brilliant colors, spilling in pillars from the sky, and there was screaming around him, the sounds of fighting. Everything was covered in static, but he could tell he was fighting too, shooting out spells left and right, using more spell slots than he thought he had. He could see a silver ship in the distance, some other figures running towards it, knew that _that was safety_ , didn’t know why he wasn’t running to it too. He could feel his own relief as the ship shot into the sky, leaving a trail that looked like glittering stars, the relief not fading even as a sharp pain blossomed in his gut— 

He shook his head. The memory— he assumed it was a memory— didn’t fit. Nothing he’d ever done resembled that. He glanced back at the silver beam. There was no doubt about it: the silver ship had been made of the same material, or at least something similar.

The sphere shuddered and the compartment opened, a large air balloon emerging from the top. They floated serenely up, the sun setting behind them. The black glass reflected the sunset in a twisted way, mimicking the fire that destroyed the town. They could see the mountains in the distance, cutting into the distant clouds. Deja vu hit him full force, and he brushed his fingers against the tinted glass, looking over the fields and forests. The view was so achingly familiar. (I̴͚͂̈́̾ͅt̷̢̮̩͆ ̷͖̻͐͠ḷ̸͂o̸̘̺̫̐͑o̸͈͕̥͂̐k̸̢̰̅̃̏e̵̔̎͜d̸̜̄ ̴̠̞̊͌̋t̸̬̞̳̋h̸͓̆̔e̷̢̒ ̸̡̃̈́̀s̴̹͘͝a̶͕̺̣̾̋m̴̨̒́̄ͅe̸̺͓̓͜ ̵̨̹̱̃o̴̥͓̓̿n̴̡̥̝̑͌͝ ̷̭̐̓ͅṯ̵͐̏h̵̪̻̎̾͜e̵̞̻̫͐̔ ̵͙͂͊̿d̵͎̻̍͂a̵̩͚͌̍y̷̓̿͜ ̸̢̹͊t̴͎͖̣̒̐h̷̰̬̓͗̃ę̷̼͓͊̌̎y̶̱͔͋͗͐ ̵̡̬͍̾̀̿f̶͙̂͆͜i̴̟͒͝ŗ̶̡̝͠s̷̫̑t̸̥̋͂ ̶͕̭͗͘l̸͕̯͍̈̿a̸̪̍͜͝͝n̶̠̏d̸̥͔̟̓̓ẹ̶͉̆͂̿d̵͚͙̄̆ ̸̘̝͉̒̋ơ̶͓̗͇̅̄n̶̡̻͋́͝ ̵̗̹̭̋̉t̶͓͐h̷͇̜̻̊̄̚ỉ̸͎̎s̷͍̺̬̓ ̴̲̇̋͐p̷̡̢̥͆ḽ̵̿̂a̷̲̓̍̈́n̵͖͍̼̑͐ȩ̷̮͓̒.̵̨̙͔̈́̈́̕)

“Uh, guys? Is it just me, or is the moon getting bigger?” Merle gestured up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Killian grin. He looked up, and saw that the moon was indeed getting bigger. Or, that wasn’t quite right. It was getting _closer_. A portcullis slid open in the bottom of the fake moon, and they floated into darkness.

It wasn’t dark for long. They emerged into bright, fluorescent light.

They stumbled after Killian, the world spinning under their feet and the edges of their vision crawling with static. 

They were in a dome shaped room, the walls made of triangular panels of glass. Around them, they could see no other pods, but there were giant canons pointing down into inky dark tunnels. 

“This is it, we died, we’re in heaven,” Magnus breathed, looking around. Killian glanced back.

“Oh, by the way, things are going to be a little… weird, for a bit, but I— I promise that’s gonna pass. Just, just take it easy, uh, sit down, cause you don’t want to faint on the stairs. That would not be good. But, I promise I’m gonna get you guys take care of very quickly, I just need to, uh, run out and— and get you all authorized, really quick.” She stepped backwards, pointing behind her with her thumbs. “It’ll take just a few minutes but please, just like, hang out here, sit down, uh, take it easy, don’t over-exert yourselves and you’re gonna be just fine.”

She turned and jogged out of the dome. Taako flopped onto the stairs, pressing his warm palms into the cool marble. Magnus and Merle plopped down next to him, looking just as miserable as he felt. They looked up as footsteps approached them. A young man in a white and blue uniform was approaching them, holding out a flask. 

“Here, you guys should drink this. It’s— trust me, it’ll help.” Taako immediately grabbed the flask and gulped down the drink. He made a face at the strong Go-Gurt taste. He let Magnus take the flask from him.

“Fuck, forgot about the Go-Gurt curse.” The guy looked confused. 

“Go-Gurt curse?” he asked, watching as Merle grabbed the flask from Magnus and chugged it.

“Everything I drink tastes like Go-Gurt, darling. Backfired a spell as a kid.” There was amusement on the guy’s face as he tried to hide a smile. Taako grinned at him.

“That is delicious brandy from my hometown of Brandybuck.”

Magnus giggled. “I’m really glad you’re not from Phandalin.”

“Why’s that?”

“No reason.”

“I’ve got an uncle in Phandalin, uh, were you just there?”

Taako lounged back on the stairs. “Correction, darling, you _had_ an uncle in Phandalin.” His two friends laughed as he grinned at the guy easily. He blinked a few times, obviously surprised.

“Oh, uh—”

“He was probably away on business, he’s probably fine.” Magnus waved his hand.

“Well I didn’t— I mean, he wasn’t like my favorite uncle or anything, but uh—”

Magnus grinned at him. “Good news!”

“Just check with the executor of his will, I mean, just sayin’.” Merle winked. Magnus snorted. 

“Nope, the executor’s dead too.” They all laughed again, taking another round of drink, ignoring the concerned look on the guy’s face. He shook it off and smiled at them, taking the flask back.

“I know things are gonna be pretty confusing for a little while, I know that you’ve got the static-y stuff going on—” _Not me_ , Taako thought, “I know that you’re kinda dizzy. And uh, listen, every single person that you’re gonna meet up here, you know, went through the same thing, so don’t worry. Trust me, it’s gonna get a lot better really soon, and we’re all really, really excited to have you.” They all waited a moment, making sure the guy was done with his little speech. Magnus leaned over to Merle and Taako. 

“Do you guys know this guy?” he whispered, loud enough for the guy to hear. 

Merle nudged Taako. “Taako, use your— your ways, get some information.” He made eye contact with the guy and he cleared his throat, laughing a little. 

“Sorry, my name is Avi.”

“There you have it! He wasn’t going to say that, I made him say that.” He laughed, nudging Merle back.

“After everything’s over, why don’t you guys come find me if you, ya know, want to hang out, or whatever. I like to—”

“We’ll bro out!”

“Yeah, we’ll just, you know, lift some weights or something. Whatever you guys like to do.”

“That sounds totally great. We need a minute, just to process everything that’s going on though, so like… I think we’re good.”

Killian jogged back into the room. “Okay, you guys are clear! Just follow me, and we can get this show on the road.”

Magnus waved at Avi as he stood up. “Bye, Avi!”

“Nice to meet you guys, you seem like real sweet dudes.”

Taako snorted. “Just wait till you get to know us,” he said, and waved goodbye. They followed Killian out of the hangar. They were on a grassy field, surrounded by more domes of varying sizes. There was no signs or directions anywhere, though uniformed people walked around with purpose. 

The night sky was above them. Seeing only one moon felt strange, as if the idea of only one celestial body in the sky was inherently incorrect. The stars were bright, twinkling happily despite the somber events of the day.

They were approaching one of the smaller domes, with a crystal spear-like monument sticking out the top. The only thing inside was an elevator with no visible buttons. Killian pushed up her sleeve and tapped her bracer on the door. It lit up with the same rune as her bracer and the doors slid open. She stepped aside. 

“I can’t actually, uh, go with you guys down there. It’s— It’s sort of high security, but, yeah, this is where you need to go next.” They stepped inside, and he heard the doors of the dome open again. 

“Uh, can you hold the elevator please?” someone called. Merle politely held his arm out to keep the doors open, while Magnus fucking _lunged_ at the close button for the door, tapping it furiously. It really was a flip of a coin with his morals. “Thanks, guys.” 

A half-elven man walked in, dressed in colorful bard’s clothing. He had a violin strapped to his back, and was holding several rolls of parchment. 

“May I ask your name?” Merle asked. He looked surprised at being addressed directly. 

“Uh, my name is Johann.”

The rest of the ride was spent in awkward silence. 

“This is a really slow elevator,” Magnus complained. Johann gave him a weird look. 

“Well, yeah, elevators take a while.”

“Not where I’m from they don’t.” 

“That’s weird.”

The doors slid open with a ‘ding!’ They stepped out into a short hallway with a large, secured door at the other end. Seven guards stood on each side of the hall. Johann gestured at Taako, Magnus, and Merle. 

“These guys are new recruits. They’re going to get i̴̢̖̱͑n̷̹̊ȯ̸̹ċ̸͙̠̎ȕ̷̥̋́l̶͕͂̐͠a̴̢͖̣̾̽̽t̵̜͓͑̉͠e̴̜͖̳̐̈́̕d̵͓̗̭͠ so don’t worry about them.” The guards nodded. Johann walked up to the door, rolling up his sleeve and tapping his own bracer against it. It opened with a click.

The room was dark and empty, save for a large cylindrical tank in the center, lit up from below. Inside, something was floating, glowing and pulsing and covered in static. The dizziness was even stronger in this room, making them all stumble again. 

Johann opened a panel in the base of the tank and placed his scrolls in it, pulling a lever. Water flooded into that panel and something grabbed it with an inky, sparkling tendril. The parchment dissolved, and Taako got deja vu once again. He was sure he’d seen something like this before, but where? How? 

“There goes another great composition,” Johann mumbled. He grabbed three vials from his bag and turned a spigot in the tank, inky black liquid pouring out. He turned to them, holding the vials out. “You guys ready for stuff to get weird?” Merle snorted. “This isn’t gonna taste great, but I’ll warn you guys, once you drink that, um, there really isn’t any going back.”

“Going back from what?”

“From— From drinking it.”

“Okay so once we drink it, we can’t un-drink it, is what you’re saying, Johann. Very helpful.” Johann rolled his eyes and held the vials out further. 

“This is gonna get rid of the static?” Taako stepped forward. Johann nodded, and Taako grabbed it and chugged it, cringing at the fishy taste.

And then he remembered much more than he should’ve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would y'all be interested in Lucretia's (and later Angus's) point of view for some chapters? Also, are any of you interested in becoming a beta for this story?
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and Kudos always appreciated! Feel free to tell me anything you think I can improve, too!
> 
> Translation for static:
> 
> Many times over, in so many cycles.  
> To save the world.  
> It calls for transport from the BoB.  
> It looked the same the day they first landed on this plane.


	4. Talking to Fischer (And important author's note)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johann nodded, and Taako grabbed it and chugged it, cringing at the fishy taste.
> 
> And then he remembered much more than he should’ve.

The vial clattered to the floor as the drink caught in his throat. Bending over, he held out a finger as he coughed. 

“You good?” Johann raised a brow at him. 

“Yeah, just peach— Fuck!” He doubled over as memories flooded his mind; Davenport, Lucretia, the Hunger, Barry, he killed Barry, and Lup, oh god, Lup, how could he forget his own sister?

He looked up at Magnus, down at Merle, straightened his back. Flicked his ears. “Fuck,” he repeated. “That was unexpected.” That was enough information for the other two. They tipped the vials into their mouths, making faces at the taste. Dread settled in his stomach at the lack of familiarity in their eyes. Did they not remember? (He knew subconsciously it wouldn’t be that easy.) Magnus should’ve swept them up in a hug, Merle should’ve said some cryptic religious bullshit. That didn’t happen, and even though he had his memories back, he was still alone. 

Magnus broke the silence. “Well, learned a fuck ton about that glove, and nothing about your umbrella.” You should have, Taako thought. She was—is — basically your sister, too. 

Time to lie through his teeth. (No matter how much he didn’t want to. It would be easier for now, just until he figured everything out.) What exactly did they remember? He grinned at them, hoping they didn’t see through it. They turned to Johann and started harassing him, and Taako took that chance to scan his memories. Some of them weren’t right, static just waiting to take over, some missing entirely before flickering into view as others flickered out— But some were clear, those of the wars, the cities destroyed and hundreds killed. (The names in his head made sense now. It was the names of those the Stone had killed, too many to count.) That had to be what Magnus and Merle remembered. If it wasn’t, he was royally screwed.

He stepped over to Fischer’s tank. For a jellyfish with no face, he looked surprisingly sad. Why me? He mouthed. Why not one of them? 

Fischer pressed a tentacle against the glass. Taako pressed his hand against it. They could be sad and alone together, at least. (The only company he had was a fucking jellyfish. How sad.)

—  
Hey! This is the author. I’ve decided to rewrite this fic, since I didn’t like how I wrote this one. 

This one will still be up, and you can find the other one [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25024732/chapters/60601348). 

If you like my writing, consider becoming a beta! I make a lot of mistakes. (If you want to become a beta, please comment on this fic and tell me how to get in contact with you.) 

I hope you have a lovely day, and thank you for taking the time to read!


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